Priming with DNA plasmids encoding the nucleocapsid protein and glycoprotein precursors from Rift Valley fever virus accelerates the immune responses induced by an attenuated vaccine in sheep

In this work we tested the ability of plasmid DNA constructs encoding structural Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) antigens to induce specific immune responses in sheep. The sole immunization of DNA constructs encoding the glycoprotein precursor NSm/G2/G1 did not suffice to induce a detectable antibody response. In contrast, immunization of sheep with a plasmid vector encoding the viral nucleocapsid protein N elicited a potent and long lasting induction of antibodies but with low neutralizing titers. After DNA immunization, no antigen-specific proliferating cells were detected in sheep PBLs. Boosting with the attenuated vaccine strain MP12 was able to increase the levels of proliferating memory cell pools and induction of IFN-γ in response to purified virus or recombinant proteins, particularly in sheep vaccinated with a combination of both plasmid constructs. These results open the possibility to exploit this strategy to improve the induction of immune responses against RVFV in sheep. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lorenzo Alguacil, Gema, Martín-Folgar, R., Rodríguez, F., Brun Torres, Alejandro
Format: journal article biblioteca
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2008
Subjects:RVFV, DNA vaccination, Prime-boost,
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12792/2500
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/293402
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